The Ice, So Small As The Distance Between Us
The old creek would flood into the shallow bottom
& freeze into tender spidering legs of ice & snow
for a time, trapping the flow. For years, we’d danced on it
in our sock bottoms–my sister a little fairy on the ice–
until the year it began to break underfoot, and, yelping,
we felt the snap & ache of cold water in our shoes.
Somehow we marched out way through the ice swamp,
and shivering, knew the direction to the road
where our grandparents would arrive
as if by prayer, back from town
in the little red truck to save us,
them always surveilling the treeline
for our little bodies, our lips turning blue
in the January morning.
They toweled us dry that Saturday, sent us home
where that brittle cold became a silence
between all four of us.
First that and then over time–
it grew between them and us,
who could not yet tame our wildest urges.
We know they saw us that day
at least: the way we looked
at once so small, then bigger–bigger–
as we stepped from the ditch
and into unknowable teenhood.
30 thoughts on "The Ice, So Small As The Distance Between Us"
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Growing older and wiser as a group of teens. Good story telling…
Stunningly well-to-do.
Thank you! This scene is one of those big memories!
Thank you so much!
You had me hooked from the opening line. Powerful narrative. That last stanza just brings it home.
Thank you so much!
for me this gorgeous poem unfolds like a silent movie but in slow motion and shot from a distance
That’s kinda how memories work for me–I have a terrible mind’s eye so its very much like watching TV through two handkerchiefs!
Well crafted story. A window into lives lived.
Storytelling as it is supposed to be. Great title.
Thanks so much, Coleman!
Brilliant imagery throughout, starting with spidering legs of ice & snow…
and more: snap & ache of cold…
well woven story…love the ending:
stepped from the ditch
and into unknowable teenhood.
Thank you, Pam! I think I miss the winter in the heat.
Really fine, Shaun. Delicate and tender and sorrowful.
Thank you, Kevin <3
All else said above.
The storytelling voice and the slow unravel. The tension could be felt far before the close, like the sound of ice cracking underfoot.
Thank you, Joseph! I love that the ice came through.
So well told. Love reading of creeks. We had one in our backyard growing up.
A creek sticks wiith you forever, I think, Karen!
wonderful movement out of childhood. The child not realizing it but the grandparents knowing all too well they are almost gone.
Shew, it happens quick!
This reminds me of my grandparents and how the inevitable march of time and personal growth can create new, sometimes silent, distances within the closest of relationships.
Time is definitely an arrow.
vivid imagery and storytelling! Fine poem!
Thanks so much, Linda!
I love this! Echoing the comments about great storytelling. I feel vividly present with the kids on the ice. Lovely language choices, too, especially “tender spidering legs.”
Thank you, Chelsie!
Dazzling. Truth told through narrative and description. Universal. Love this, shaun.
Thanks so much, Sally!
I like the journey the words took me through “little fairy” “little red truck” “little bodies” to the “bigger–bigger–” at the end. The words grow with the narrative in an immersive way.
Thank you! I didn’t notice that, andI appreciate your comment!